Rising Costs of Biologics in the U.S. Suggest Need for Negotiation Ability

Unlike most industrialized countries, the United States lacks a government health care system that negotiates prices. That may explain the price discrepancy, the researchers say.

“Many believe the government needs to play a stronger role monitoring and regulating this dysfunctional marketplace,” Dr. Hartung says. “Having healthcare professionals and professional societies speak out about this is an important first step.”

For the Neurology study, authors reported no external funding. One coauthor reported serving as a consultant for Teva Neurosciences and Biogen Idec; one coauthor reported being on the data safety monitoring committee for a Chugai Pharmaceutical clinical trial.

For the Arthritis & Rheumatology study, the authors reported no external funding or disclosures.

While members of Congress debate healthcare legislation, rheumatologists say many of their patients struggle to afford everything from generic drugs to insurance copayments for physical therapy. “It’s a mess. The cost of prescriptions and the rationale for those rising costs in the U.S. right now—it’s just a mess,” says James R. O’Dell, MD, Stokes-Shackleford Professor of…

Rheumatologists and patients report mixed experiences with the new prescription drug benefit

(Reuters Health)—The U.S., which spends more on drugs than any other country, might contain costs by limiting market exclusivity for brand name medicines and changing coverage requirements for government health plans, some doctors argue. Although brand-name drugs account for only 10% of all dispensed prescriptions in the U.S., they make up 72% of drug spending,…

Here’s a trivia question: Where were the big ideas for the field of biotechnology first discussed? Answer: At a since-demolished delicatessen in Waikiki Beach, Hawaii. Go figure. The year was 1972, and Stanley Cohen, MD, professor of medicine at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., and Herbert Boyer, PhD, a former professor and biochemist at the…

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